


the price of freedom

by V_e_s_a_n_u_s



Series: Whumptober 2018 [7]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Break Up, Canon-Typical Violence, Insomnia, Kidnapping, M/M, Slavery, Violence, Whumptober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 20:58:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16227197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/V_e_s_a_n_u_s/pseuds/V_e_s_a_n_u_s
Summary: Day number 7 of #whumptober! Prompt was kidnapped!Fenris wakes up alone for the first time in months. He knew Hawke wouldn't leave him, never like this, never at night. But Hawke didn't leave voluntarily. Fenris finds a note that explains it all.(Sort of a continuation of "Stay." - same universe, sorta XD)





	the price of freedom

Fenris woke with a start, heart leaping out of his chest. The images were still fresh in his mind, burned in behind his eyelids, the imprint still there when his eyes opened. He hadn’t had a nightmare that bad since he’d begun living with Hawke. He always felt warm, and safe with him. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long-

His blood ran cold. 

The bed was empty. 

He patted the sheets around him. Maybe he was just hidden, snuggled under a pile of sheets… but no. The room was cold and dark without him. 

Fenris got up. Hawke was downstairs. He was fetching a drink, or he was reading, or even he’d gone out. If he had, there’d be a note.  _ Please let there be a note.  _

The house was quiet. The fires weren’t glowing in their fireplaces: Bodhan had long since retired to bed. He didn’t light a candle, just lighting up his tattoos just enough to be able to see in the soft blue glow. He didn’t find anything. Just dark, empty rooms. Hawke was nowhere to be seen. 

Where could he have gone? 

He wouldn’t have just left: he  _ knew  _ how Fenris was about these things. Maybe… maybe he was on a walk. Thought he would be back before Fenris woke up. He just needed some air. He’d be back soon. All Fenris had to do was wait. 

The elf ran up the stairs back to their room. Still anxious, he wrung his hands together as he walked in, and perched on the end of the bed. His foot grazed against something on the floor. Something that was not the cold stone he expected. He bent down and picked it up.

Thank the Maker. It was a note. Fenris had probably knocked it off the bed when he was tossing and turning in the note. He opened it, sighing with relief… but the breath caught in his throat. 

 

_ My little wolf,  _

_ I can’t tell you how much of a surprise it was to find you living the domestic life. The Champion really did  _ tame _ you didn’t he? Well, I suppose he is  _ Fereldan _ , after all, and they do rather like their pets. No one likes their pets taken from them. _

_ It would be so easy to kill you right here. Right now. You look very peaceful when you sleep. So... vulnerable.  _

_ But I need you. I've spent too much time and expended too many resources to create you. You are mine and I will have you back. So let's trade. _

_ You know what you must do, little wolf, if you want him back. Come to the docks. Unarmed.  _

_ We’ll make the trade there.  _

_ I do so look forward to seeing you again, my pet, _

_ Your Master _

 

Fenris snarled at the paper in front of him. Ever since Garrett had started teaching him how to read, he’d been practising wherever he could. Somehow… somehow Danarius  _ knew.  _ And that meant he’d been watching them. 

Now he had Hawke. 

There was nothing he could do. He needed to protect Hawke. He had to save him. Fenris promised this would never happen to him, that his past would never catch up to anyone he cared about. But here they were. 

He wasn’t going to lose Hawke forever. Even if that meant going back with Danarius. The only thing worse than losing his freedom was losing his love. He had to do this. 

He strapped his sword to his back and stormed towards the docks. Danarius would pay for this.

 

* * *

“Look, Danarius, this isn’t going to turn out well for you,” Hawke pointed out, subtly struggling at his bindings behind his back. He suspected they were enchanted: he couldn’t seem to be able to burn or freeze through them, and trying was only draining his mana. He’d switched tactics to what he was really good at: talking. 

The Vint wasn’t even facing him, staring out into the darkness of the alleyways surrounding him, watching for any hint of his slave. Every slosh against the docks behind them sounded like moving clothes, every drip of water from a leaky pipe sounded like footsteps. Drip. Drip. Drip. 

He wasn’t afraid. He was prepared. But his little wolf was sly, and he’d learned never to keep his eyes off of him for too long, even when he waited on his every beck and call. 

“Either Fenris turns up here, you die, along with all your bodyguards, and we all escape and live happily ever after, or,” he added with narrowed eyes, “You take Fenris back to Tevinter. And I send an army after you to bring his back. And then you die, along with all your bodyguards, and then we all live happily ever after,” he paused, raising his eyebrow, “Do you see that you don’t have a good option here? There’s no happily ever after for you.” 

“Oh?” Danarius sneered, eyes still not on him, “And you think there will be a happy ever after for  _ you?  _ The slave who hates mages and his mage betrothed. Sounds like it would work out  _ wonderfully.” _

“It doesn’t matter to him that I’m a mage. What matters is that he cares about me.”

“Is that so?” The magister paused, listening carefully to the surroundings before continuing, “Tell me, Champion, did he ever tell you about some other people he ‘cared’ about?” Hawke’s eyebrows furrowed, “Ash warriors, I believe they were. Slaughtered them. Like pigs.”

“It’s not like that-”

“Really? So you truly believe he won’t obey me if I ask him to?” Danarius’ voice was sinister and clipped, every word laced with spite, “He let me live, Hawke. Do you know what I think that means?” The magister laughed, “That he wants to be  _ led.” _

“It  _ means _ that despite all that you’ve done to him, he’s still a good person!” Hawke snapped back, trying to tear his hands free just so he could throttle the man in front of him. 

“A good person? My little wolf is  _ not _ a good person. He is a tool. A weapon,” Danarius looked over his shoulder at him, “A weapon that needs direction. Orders. Are you prepared to give them, I wonder? If I disappear, will you be his next master?”

“Of course not! Fenris is not a slave! He is  _ free!” _

Danarius laughed again, looking him directly in the eyes with a piercing gaze, “Oh is that so? And what about when you need him, hmm? Does he not follow your every beck and call? Jump to your aid when you need it? Always wait for direction from you?” 

“I... “ Hawke stammered. No. Fenris was free. He made his own choices, but… Danarius had a point. They weren’t… Was Hawke forcing him into something Fenris didn’t want without knowing himself? “No, I-”

Fenris leapt out of the shadows like an animal, not even thinking twice before reaching through his throat and ripping his head clean off. He wasn’t interested in anything that man had to say. He dropped the top of his snapped spine to the floor, the magister’s head hitting the floor with a loud thud just before the body in front of him fell over too. 

The two bodyguards either side of him cried out, not seeing him before it was too late to protect their master. They started casting but Fenris was in a frenzy, leaping towards one of them and running them through with a short, precise thrust piercing through his torso. He ripped the blade out to the side, the man’s innards spilling out in a rush, twirling around to hack at the woman behind him. She only managed to get one spell in before he cut her down, yanking his blade out and watching her collapse to the ground with narrowed eyes. 

He’d never expected it to be this easy. Danarius was dead. Fenris was truly free. 

The elf knelt down beside Hawke, reaching back to untie the tightly bound knots around his wrists. Garrett sat forwards, rubbing his wrists as he stood. 

“Hawke,” Fenris said, going in to pull the man into a hug, “I thought I… Hawke?” 

Garrett had placed a hand firmly on his chest, stopping him from coming any closer. He shook his head slowly. 

“What’s wrong? Danarius is dead- did he… did he do something to you?” 

“No.”  _ Yes, he pointed out the truth. _ “Fenris. I… we can’t do this anymore. I can’t… I can’t do this anymore. It’s not fair to you.”

“It’s not fair to me? What are you talking about?” Fenris’ eyes were wide with confusion, eyebrows low on his forehead and scrunched together, “Hawke?”

“I’m sorry. We can’t… I can’t be with you Fenris.”

“You can’t-”

Hawke let out a sigh, chest tight, “I’m not going to make you do something you don’t truly want anymore. It’s not right.”

“But Hawke,” Fenris shook his head in confusion, “I  _ do _ want this.”

“No,” he replied sadly, “No, you don’t.”

Hawke took a step back. Suddenly the distance between them felt like miles. Fenris didn’t know what was going on. He didn’t understand. Where did this come from? Why was he saying this? Why was he  _ doing _ this? 

“You can stay in my mansion for as long as you need,” Hawke walked past him, “In the guest bedroom.”

Fenris’ heart was frozen in his chest. He watched him walk away. The elf didn’t know how to deal with this, he never could. Now the one person who he would ask for help from was the one that was abandoning him. 

Danarius was dead. 

Fenris was free. 

But now he was alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed! Leave a comment or kudos if you have the time! XD


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